5 major differences between Marvel's Thunderbolts* and DC's Suicide Squad, explored

Since the announcement of Thunderbolts* the impression amongst people was that the team is like DC's Suicide Squad or Task Force X. Also, both teams have a supposedly untrustworthy woman as the leader: Valentina Allegra de Fontaine as the leader of the Thunderbolts* and Amanda Waller as the one leading the Suicide Squad. Also, both these teams also have bad guys.

Despite the surface-level similarities, some factors distinguish the Thunderbolts* from the Suicide Squad. One of the major differences between the two teams is that while the DC team is sent for dangerous black-ops missions, the Marvel one has supervillains trying to gain people's trust. The five points below will clarify the difference between these two teams.

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What are the 5 differences between Thunderbolts* and Suicide Squad?

While both teams are filled with supervillains across the Marvel and DC Universes, they are different from each other. Listed below are the top 5 differences between Thunderbolts* and Suicide Squad:

The motivation behind assembling

The Suicide Squad in both the movies and comics, is assembled by Amanda Waller for carrying out dangerous missions. She chooses dangerous supervillains across the DC Universe and promises them to reduce their prison sentences. However, she also informs them about an explosive implanted in their head. If any of them were to betray her, she would activate the explosive and kill them.

The Thunderbolts* conversely, in the comics are not under anyone's orders. Sometimes, the members of the team also want to help people, giving them a chance at redemption. It is also important to note that in the comics, the team was assembled by Baron Helmut Zemo, i.e., Daniel Brühl's MCU character.

Under him, the Thunderbolts* aimed to gain popular support and therefore power. However, the team started to reject his leadership and started becoming a bit more noble.

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Not every Thunderbolts* member is a villain

Except for Rick Flag, every member of Task Force X, also known as the Suicide Squad, is a villain to a major DC character. Conversely, the roster of Thunderbolts* consists of both heroes and villains in the Marvel Universe. In fact, after the team rejected Zemo's leadership, the Thunderbolts* at one point were led by none other than Hawkeye. This keeps Thunderbolts* unpredictable.

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Thunderbolts* are not under threat

As stated before, Amanda Waller builds her Suicide Squad by choosing dangerous supervillains imprisoned in maximum security prisons. She makes them believe that if they complete the mission, the prison sentences will be removed. However, if they try to abandon the mission, then the explosive in their heads will be activated, instantly killing them.

While it is unclear how it will play out in the Thunderbolts* movie, in the comics, the members of the team are not coerced into joining the team. But there are chances that the MCU movie may have Valentina take a note from her DC counterpart and attempt to kill the team in case of desertion or for secrecy.

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The Thunderbolts* movies tied to the MCU

Unlike the James Gunn-directed The Suicide Squad from 2021, the events of the Thunderbolts* movie are closely tied to the MCU. MCU projects like The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever probably set up the plot points of the Thunderbolts* movie.

Conversely, The Suicide Squad is very loosely connected to the now-defunct DCEU, which was established by director Zack Snyder with Man of Steel. This is why both The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker Season 1 were canonized into the current DCU.

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Thunderbolts* are meant to replace The Avengers

Looks like the Thunderbolts* movie will finally give people some ideas about the status of The Avengers in the MCU ever since 2019's Avengers: Endgame. In the Thunderbolts* trailer, we see the team meeting Valentina in a swanky penthouse, which is supposed to be the Avengers Tower, which was revealed to have been sold way back in 2017's Spider-Man: Homecoming. The trailer suggests that either Val or the CIA bought the tower. The same cannot be said about Suicide Squad.

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The 5 differences between the Thunderbolts* and the Suicide Squad mentioned above clarify how these two teams are different from each other. While Thunderbolts* will be released in cinema halls across the world in May 2025, there is no follow-up to The Suicide Squad currently in the works.

However, the current animated DCU series Creature Commandos does follow a similar team, but with one difference: all of them are monsters instead of humans.